Children s online risks and opportunities: Comparative findings from EU Kids Online and Net Children Go Mobile Sonia Livingstone, Giovanna Mascheroni, Kjartan Ólafsson and Leslie Haddon, with the networks of EU Kids Online and Net Children Go Mobile (November )
Executive summary! In, half of European 9-16 year olds ever used the internet in their bedroom; now two thirds go online there weekly.! Internet use at school is highest in Denmark and the UK and it is very low in Italy.! Although children do more online in, most do not climb far up the ladder of opportuniies.! SNS use has increased for boys and teens; 22% 9-10 year olds and 53% 11- year olds use Facebook.! Romania has seen a large increase in children with 100+ contacts and most have a public profile; by contrast, SNS use is relaively safer (more privacy, fewer contacts, less under- age use) in the UK and Ireland.! Fewer than half of children see themselves as digital naives compared with their parents. Digital self- confidence has decreased among the 9-10 year olds, only 10% of whom now believe they are more skilled than their parents.! Children now report being beyer able to protect themselves online: more than half of 11- years olds (55%) say they can change their SNS privacy se[ngs (it was 43% in ); among 14-16 year olds, it is now 79%.! The comparison of findings from to shows only moderate increases in some risks, and no increase at all for others. PotenIally negaive forms of user- generated content (e.g. hate, pro- anorexic or self- harm content) are more common.! The proporion of children who reported being bothered or upset online in the past year has increased from % to 17%; the biggest increases in recent years are among girls and teenagers.! Around half of all 11-16 year olds has encountered one or more of the 10 risks we asked about, with a recent increase among girls and the younger children.! In some countries, the changes from to suggest children are experiencing more of both risks and opportuniies - in Denmark, Italy and Romania (and, less, in Ireland); but in Belgium, Portugal and the UK, children are now benefiing from more online aciviies without an equivalent increase in risk.! Two thirds of parents have suggested ways for their child to use the internet safely, according to children aged 9-16. Indeed, parents prefer far more to talk about internet safety than use parental controls in all countries and for all age groups; but the levels of parental mediaion are not increasing despite parental concern and awareness- raising efforts.
Report overview! Data sources! Access and use! Activities! Social networking! Digital skills! Risks and harm! Parental mediation! Recommendations! Methodology
Sources of findings: survey data &! The EU Kids Online survey conducted in- home face- to- face interviews with 25,000 European 9-16 year old internet users and their parents in 25 countries in. Report: hyp://eprints.lse.ac.uk/33731! The Net Children Go Mobile survey replicated major parts of the EU Kids Online survey, adding a focus on mobile devices, with 3,500 European 9-16 year old internet users in 7 countries in 20/14. Report: www.netchildrengomobile.eu/ reports! Selected findings follow for 7 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Access and use
Home is the most common place to go online, and many have private access to the internet Boys Girls 9-10 yrs 11- yrs - 14 yrs 15-16 yrs % Use at all in own bedroom % At least weekly use in own bedroom 36 37 46 53 54 53 59 63 66 66 66 69 75 83 0 20 40 60 80 100 Belgium Denmark Ireland Italy Portugal Romania UK % Use at all in own bedroom % At least weekly use in own bedroom 34 37 48 48 52 53 60 62 60 69 67 69 66 70 74 85 0 20 40 60 80 100 EU Kids Online QC301: Where do you use the internet these days: at school or college, living room (or other public room) at home, at a friend s home, own bedroom (or other private room) at home, at a relaive s home, in an internet café, in a public library or other public place, when out and about. NCGM- Q1: How olen do you go online or use the internet (from a computer, a mobile phone, a smartphone, or any other device you may use to go online) at the following locaions: Own bedroom, at home but not own room, at school, other places, when out and about. Base: 9-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.! The figures show children aged 9-16 in the 7 countries who access the internet in their own bedroom.! In, one in two of 9-16 year olds ever used the internet in their bedroom. Now two in three go online there weekly.! There are big age differences: one third of 9-10 year olds rising to four filhs of 15-16 year olds go online weekly in their bedroom.! There are few gender differences in access.! There are big differences by country half of Belgian children rising to four filhs in Denmark. Ireland has now caught up with the average.
There are big age and country differences in whether children go online when out and about Boys Girls 9-10 yrs 11- yrs - 14 yrs 15-16 yrs % Use at all 'when out and about' % At least weekly use 'when out and about' 3 6 8 10 15 21 25 26 25 32 44 0 20 40 60 80 100 Belgium Denmark Ireland Italy Portugal Romania UK % Use at all 'when out and about' % At least weekly use 'when out and about' 4 6 4 8 11 EU Kids Online QC301a- h: Looking at this card, please tell me where you use the internet these days: at school or college, living room (or other public room) at home, at a friend s home, own bedroom (or other private room) at home, at a relaive s home, in an internet café, in a public library or other public place, when out and about. NCGM- Q1 a- e: Looking at this card, please tell me how olen you go online or use the internet (from a computer, a mobile phone, a smartphone, or any other device you may use to go online) at the following locaions: Own bedroom, at home but not own room, at school, other places, when out and about. Base: 9-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK. 14 18 15 20 21 25 40 38 47 0 20 40 60 80 100! The figures show children aged 9-16 who access the internet when out and about: 1/4 go online when out and about but most do not.! Thus the home is sill the main place for children s internet use, with the bedroom the main place for smartphone use.! But this use is more personalised: in, a shared PC was the most common way of accessing the internet (58%) with 31% using their phone. Now, every day 46% use a laptop and 41% use a smartphone to go online.! There are no gender differences but big age and country differences, suggesing a European divide resuling from differenial costs of connecion.
Most children use the internet at school though countries differ greatly in educational practices Boys Girls 9-10 yrs 11- yrs - 14 yrs 15-16 yrs % Use at all when at school % At least weekly use when at school 43 50 53 56 54 55 55 64 65 65 67 65 68 72 0 20 40 60 80 100 Belgium Denmark Ireland Italy Portugal Romania UK % Use at all when at school % At least weekly use when at school 27 36 39 47 52 49 54 53 55 66 65 72 83 80 87 91 0 20 40 60 80 100! The figures show children aged 9-16 who access the internet at school. Note that for, the measure is use at all while for it is use weekly (hence the apparent reducion in use).! There are age differences but no gender differences in use of the internet at school.! Age differences are strong especially for daily use at school (8% 9-10 year olds rising to 38% 15-16 year olds).! Internet use at school is highest in Denmark and the UK (where most children have access) and it is very low in Italy. EU Kids Online QC301a- h: Looking at this card, please tell me where you use the internet these days: at school or college, living room (or other public room) at home, at a friend s home, own bedroom (or other private room) at home, at a relaive s home, in an internet café, in a public library or other public place, when out and about. NCGM- Q1 a- e: Looking at this card, please tell me how olen you go online or use the internet (from a computer, a mobile phone, a smartphone, or any other device you may use to go online) at the following locaions: Own bedroom, at home but not own room, at school, other places, when out and about. Base: 9-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Activities
Many children enjoy the internet but most do not climb far up the ladder of opportunities Created a character, pet or avatar Used file sharing sites Spent time in a virtual world Posted photos, videos or music to share with others Used a webcam Read/watched the news on the internet Visited a chatroom Posted a message on a website Downloaded music or films Played games with other people on the internet Used the internet for school work Watched video clips (e.g. on YouTube) Used instant messaging Visited a social networking profile 2 3 4 5 6 6 8 7 10 9 9 9 10 15 20 18 19 16 18 24 28 33 32 40 44 0 20 40 60 80 100 49 59 63! The figure shows 11-16 year old children s online aciviies in the past month, comparing and.! Watching video clips and social networking are the two most common aciviies, and both have increased in popularity recently.! Instant messaging remains popular, and around one in three also use the internet regularly for school work and playing games with other people.! PosIng photos or videos, and downloading content have recently increased in popularity, suggesing an increase in sharing peer- to- peer.! ParIcipaIng via virtual worlds, file- sharing sites or webcam remain relaively uncommon.! Reading the news online has recently risen to one in five, suggesing increased use of the internet for civic interests.! The increases over Ime in online aciviies are similarly evident among both 11- year olds and 14-16 year olds. However, 14-16 year olds do more of all aciviies shown except playing games with others (where levels of play are liyle changed). EU Kids Online - QC306a- d, QC308a- f &QC311a- f: Which of the following things have you done in the past month on the internet? (MulIple opions) NCGM - Q9a- d, 10a- e, 11a- e, a- k: For each of the things I read out, please tell me how olen you have done it in the past month. (MulIple opions) Base: 11-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Children have become less satisfied with the content available for them on the internet Boys Girls 9-10 yrs 11- yrs - 14 yrs 15-16 yrs % Very true % Very true 30 35 36 39 43 41 45 44 45 49 49 47 51 56 0 20 40 60 80 100 Belgium Denmark Ireland Italy Portugal Romania UK % Very true % Very true! The figures show how many children say it is very true that 41 There are lots of things on the 29 internet that are good for children 47 of my age. 30 37 40 40 44 41 44 47 51 49 52 56 57 0 20 40 60 80 100! Overall, there is a slight decline in children s saisfacion with online content.! This reducion is more evident among girls than boys, but evenly spread by age.! This reducion is more noiceable among non- English speaking countries, suggesing a decline in naional content producion.! In the UK and, especially, in Ireland, it is easier for children to benefit from the wealth of English- language content online. EU Kids Online - QC319c: There are lots of things on the internet that are good for children of my age. Response opions: very true, a bit true, not true. NCGM - Q47: There are lots of things on the internet that are good for children of my age. Response opions: very true, a bit true, not true. Base: 9-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Social networking
15-16 yrs - 14 yrs 11- yrs 9-10 yrs Girls Boys Facebook is taking over social networking across Europe % with a profile on Facebook % with a profile on any SNS 15 22 33 41 44 42 53 54 62 60 25 61 27 62 77 85 54 58 60 64 61 69 67 68 77 84 83 93 0 50 100 UK Romania Portugal Italy Ireland Denmark Belgium % with a profile on Facebook % with a profile on any SNS 34 30 45 44 43 56 53 64 61 58 71 70 78 46 54 59 57 59 58 64 66 64 67 72 75 81 79 0 50 100! The figure shows children with a profile on any social networking site (and on Facebook).! Facebook is the main SNS used even though teens are diversifying their choice of SNS (e.g. a turn to TwiYer in the UK).! Across Europe, SNS use has increased for boys and for teens overall. The proporion of SNS use that is on Facebook has also increased.! One in four 9-10 year olds and over half of 11- year olds use SNS with 22% and 53% on Facebook respecively.! One in four teens and six in ten under- age (9- year old) users display an incorrect age on their SNS profile.! SNS use has decreased recently in the UK and Ireland, and it has sharply increased in Romania. EU Kids Online - QC3: Do you have your OWN profile on a social networking site that you currently use, or not? NCGM - Q16 a- f: Do you have your own profile on a SNS (e.g. Facebook, TwiYer, etc.) that you currently use and if you have a profile/account, do you have just one or more than one? Base: 9-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Countries differ in risky uses of SNS multiple contacts, public settings, under-age use Belgium Denmark Ireland Italy Portugal Romania UK % 100+ contacts on SNS % 100+ contacts on SNS 8 22 29 27 30 34 32 32 31 35 35 41 42 42 66 0 20 40 60 80 100 Belgium Denmark Ireland Italy Portugal Romania UK % With a public profile on SNS in % With a public profile on SNS in 11 15 19 19 EU Kids Online - QC316 and NCGM - Q18: Roughly how many people are you in contact with when using [name of most used SNS]? EU Kids Online - QC317 and NCGM - Q20: Is your profile set to? Public, so that everyone can see; parially private, so that friends of friends or your networks can see; private so that only your friends can see; don t know. Base: 9-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK. 22 26 25 24 25 28 29 32 35 44 57 0 20 40 60 80 100! Two thirds of 9-16 year olds have fewer than 100 contacts on their most- used SNS profile, and the same proporion have set their profile to private.! Among the 9-10 year olds, less than 10% have 100+ contacts, though around a quarter have public profiles.! Country differences are bigger. In Romania, there has been a large increase in children with 100+ contacts, and most also have a public profile.! By contrast, SNS use is relaively safer (more privacy, fewer contacts, less under- age use) in the UK and Ireland.! For example, under- age use of Facebook (9- years) averages 39%, rising from 18% in Ireland and 21% in the UK to 66% in Romania.
Children a little less likely to see the internet as an opportunity for private self-disclosure Talk about private things on the internet Talk about different things on the internet Easier to be myself on the internet 27 24 22 31 35 46 47 39 45 40 39 50 Girls (11+) Boys (11+) Girls (11+) Boys (11+) 0 20 40 60 80 100! Between clear opportuniies and clear risks lie the risky opportuniies that draw children to use the internet self- disclosure online, for instance, may be an opportunity for some but it may also be risky.! Around one quarter of 11-16 year olds talk about private things online, with over a third saying they talk about different things online compared with face- to- face, and a similar proporion say they find it easier to be themselves online.! The proporion of children who feel more comfortable with online communicaion saying they tend to talk about private thinks more, or talk about different things, or feel easier to be themselves has decreased in recent years.! country differences are more notable, with the three indicators decreasing in Belgium, Denmark, and UK. They are stable in Ireland and Romania but increasing in Italy where more children say they talk about different or more private things online. EU Kids Online - QC103 and NCGM - Q47: How true are these of you? Very true, a bit true, not at all true. Answers shown are for very true plus a bit true. Base: 11-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Digital skills
Fewer than half of children see themselves as digital natives compared with their parents Boys Girls 9-10 yrs 11- yrs - 14 yrs 15-16 yrs % Very true % Very true 10 16 30 31 34 39 38 42 41 40 47 48 58 61 0 20 40 60 80 100 Belgium Denmark Ireland Italy Portugal Romania UK % Very true % Very true 28 35 34 35 36 34 34 37 37 38 42 42 40 44 49 57 0 20 40 60 80 100! The proporion of children who say it is very true that I know more about the internet than my parents has liyle changed in the past few years.! However, gender variaions are noteworthy, with girls now less likely than boys to think that they know more about the internet than their parents.! Self- confidence has decreased among the 9-10 year olds, only 10% of whom now believe they are more skilled than their parents.! The proporion of children who think they know more about the internet than their parents is higher in Denmark and Romania, although even in Romania there is a decrease in this measure. EU Kids Online - QC319a and NCGM - Q47: How true are these of you? I know more about the internet than my parents. Please answer not true, a bit true or very true. Base: 9-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Levels of digital skills are rising slowly Change filter preferences Block unwanted adverts or junk mail/spam Compare different websites to decide if information is true Find information on how to use the internet safely Delete the record of which sites you have visited Change privacy settings on a social networking profile Bookmark a website Block messages from someone you don t want to hear from 31 37 52 54 50 51 57 61 57 63 64 67 66 64 69 71 0 20 40 60 80 100! Children now report being a bit more able to do most things related to internet safety.! More than half of 11- years olds (55%) now say they know how to change privacy se[ngs of a SNS profile now (only 43% in ). For 14-16 year olds, it s 79% now.! In, 37% of 11- year olds said they knew how to delete the records of visited sites. Now 53% of them say they can.! Only 24% of 11- year olds say they know how to change filter preferences. Half of 14-16 year olds say they know how.! Given the increase in use and the efforts of industry and educators, the increase in skills is maybe lower than would be expected.! Moreover, inequaliies by gender, age and country remain.! Since a substanial minority sill lacks digital skills, this suggests that more can be done to teach children how to use the internet and, also, that internet could be made easier to use. EU Kids Online - QC320a- d and QC321a- d: Which of these things do you know how to do on the internet? Please say yes or no to each of the following... If you don t know what something is or what it means, don t worry, just say you don t know. NCGM - Q26 d, Q27 a- e: Which of these things do you know how to do? Base: 11-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Risks and harm
Negative UGC and cyberbullying are on the rise Had contact with someone not met face to face before Seen sexual images online 18 20 29 32! Although is olen claimed that levels of online risk to children are rising fast, the comparison of findings from to shows only moderate increases in some risks, and no increase at all for others. Received sexual messages Seen websites where people publish hate messages that attack certain groups or individuals Seen websites where people promote eating disorders (such as being very skinny, anorexic or bulimic) Met online contact offline Been cyberbullied Seen websites where people talk about or share their experiences of taking drugs Seen websites where people discuss ways of physically harming or hurting themselves 14 20 9 9 8 7 10 7 11! PotenIally negaive forms of user- generated content (UGC - such as hate, pro- anorexic or self- harm content) are more common.! The percentage of children aged 11-16 years old who report receiving nasty or hurvul ( cyberbullying ) messages rose from 8% to %.! Sexual messaging has decreased a liyle (except in Denmark), as has the percentage of children making a new contact online unconnected with their offline friends.! Arguably the increase in risk is because of parallel increase in opportuniies children have greater access, especially via personalised and portable devices, they are developing more skills, and these shils combine to lead them towards more risk. Seen websites where people discuss ways of committing suicide 4 6 0 50 100 EU Kids Online and NCGM measures in this graph are explained for each risk separately in the graphs on the following slides. Base: 11-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Girls and teenagers are more likely to be bothered online, & country differences are large Boys Girls 9-10 yrs 11- yrs - 14 yrs 15-16 yrs % Bothered % Bothered 14 11 11 15 14 16 20 17 21 23 0 20 40 60 80 100 Belgium Denmark Ireland Italy Portugal Romania UK % Bothered % Bothered 6 6 7 10 9 11 10 15 20 17 21 28 27 39 0 20 40 60 80 100! As the EU Kids Online network has olen argued, risk does not necessarily result in harm children may be resilient to the risks they encounter online.! However, the proporion of children who reported being bothered or upset online in the past year has increased from % to 17%.! The biggest increases in recent years are among girls and teenagers.! The biggest increase in the percentage of children upset online is in Denmark (from 28% to 39%), Ireland (from 11% to 20%) and Romania (from 21% to 27%); the percentages are fairly stable in other countries. EU Kids Online - QC110: In the PAST MONTHS, have you seen or experienced something on the internet that has bothered you in some way? For example, made you feel uncomfortable, upset, or feel that you shouldn t have seen it. QP228: As far as you are aware, in the past year, has your child seen or experienced something on the internet that has bothered them in some way? QC322: Do you think there are things on the internet that people about your age will be bothered by in any way? Base: children who use the internet and one of their parents. NCGM - Q30: In the PAST MONTHS, have you seen or experienced something on the internet that has bothered you in some way? For example, made you feel uncomfortable, upset, or feel that you shouldn t have seen it. Base: 9-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Cyberbullying has increased, especially among girls and the youngest age group 15-16 yrs - 14 yrs 11- yrs 9-10 yrs Girls Boys % Experienced some type of cyberbullying % Bullied (on or offline) 3 6 6 7 8 8 10 9 8 9 15 15 19 19 19 21 22 21 22 22 21 23 23 24 26 26 0 10 20 30 UK Romania Portugal Italy Ireland Denmark Belgium % Experienced some type of cyberbullying % Bullied (on or offline) 6 7 4 2 6 2 5 8 21 19 9 11 10 20 22 21 23 22 25 39 41 41 0 20 40 60! The proporion of children who have been bullied at all (on and/or offline) has remained fairly stable at under a quarter of 9-16 year olds except that it rose markedly in Denmark, and was already very high in Romania.! But cyberbullying has increased in the past four years from 8% to %, especially among girls, and among the youngest age group (aged 9-10 years, followed by teenagers aged - 14 years old).! The biggest increase from to in the percentage of children who have been cyberbullied is in Denmark (a rise from % to 21%) and Ireland (from 4% to %). EU Kids Online - QC1: Has someone acted in this kind of hurvul or nasty way to you in the past months? QC1: How olen has someone acted in this kind [hurvul and nasty] way towards you in the past months? NCGM - Q32: In the PAST MONTHS, has someone treated you in this kind of way, and if so, how upset were you about happened? Base: 9-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Slight increase in exposure to sexual content, both online and offline especially among girls 15-16 yrs - 14 yrs 11- yrs 9-10 yrs Girls Boys % seen sexual images online % seen sexual images (on or offline) 6 7 9 18 15 16 19 15 19 17 28 30 14 18 18 24 27 26 29 30 30 28 33 42 44 0 20 40 60 UK Romania Portugal Italy Ireland Denmark Belgium % seen sexual images online % seen sexual images (on or offline) 7 11 14 11 17 20 17 19 29 34 17 21 24 24 24 24 28 28 28 33 31 42 52 0 20 40 60! Seeing sexual images has slightly increased in total (from 26% to 28%) and online in paricular (from 15% to 17%) of 9-16 year olds, from to.! Girls are now paricularly more likely to encounter sexual content on the internet (from % to 19%).! The proporion of children who report being exposed to sexual images both on the internet and offline has increased especially in Denmark (where half children report having seen sexual images overall) and in Italy (where double the proporion of children encountered pornographic content on any media).! SIll, half of all exposure to pornography is not via the internet. EU Kids Online - QC8: Have you seen anything of this kind [obviously sexual] in the past month? QC9: How olen have you seen [images, photos, videos that are obviously sexual] in the past months. Base: children who use the internet. NCGM - Q35: In the PAST MONTHS, have you seen anything of this kind, and if so, how upset were you by what you saw? Base: 9-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
A little less sexting Boys Girls 9-10 yrs 11- yrs - 14 yrs 15-16 yrs % Seen or received sexual messages % Received sexual messages 11 14 6 4 10 22 19 14 11 Belgium Denmark Ireland Italy Portugal Romania UK % Seen or received sexual messages % Received sexual messages 18 11 16 22 11 11 4 5 15 5 22 21 4 14 11! The proporion of children aged 11-16 years who have experienced sexing (i.e. received sexual messages online) has decreased across all age groups and among both boys and girls.! It has also dropped in most countries especially in the UK (from % to 4%) and Portugal (from 15% to 5%).! The excepion is in Denmark, where it has increased from 16% to 22%.! In Ireland and Italy the proporion of children who received sexual messages has remained stable. 0 50 100 0 50 100 EU Kids Online - QC167: In the past months have you seen or received sexual messages of any kind on the internet? This could be words, pictures or videos. NCGM - Q42: In the PAST MONTHS, have you received sexual messages of this kind (this could be words, pictures or videos), and if so, how upset were you about happened? Base: 11-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Children are less likely to meet new people online but more likely to meet online contacts offline 15-16 yrs - 14 yrs 11- yrs 9-10 yrs Girls Boys % Gone to meet online contacts % Been in contact with someone not met before 3 3 8 5 11 8 10 9 9 11 8 15 11 18 15 18 21 26 25 26 29 29 31 29 34 36 42 0 20 40 60 UK Romania Portugal Italy Ireland Denmark Belgium % Gone to meet online contacts % Been in contact with someone not met before 5 4 4 5 3 10 6 5 10 17 11 27 16 17 19 22 22 28 27 28 30 32 42 41 49 0 20 40 60 QC147: Can I just check, have you ever had contact on the internet with someone you have not met face- to- face before? QC148: Have you ever gone on to meet anyone face- to- face that you first met on the internet in this way. NCGM - Q37: In the PAST MONTHS, have you ever had contact on the internet (on all plavorms/devices) with someone you had not met face to face before? This could have been by email, chatrooms, SNS, instant messaging or gaming sites. Base: 9-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.! The proporion of children who have been in touch on the internet with someone they first met online has slightly decreased (from 29% to 26%).! However, the proporion of those who went to meet an online contact offline has slightly increased (from 8% to 11%) across all age groups.! Across countries, meeing people online has dropped everywhere except from Denmark (from 42% to 49%) and Romania (from 32% to 41%).! MeeIng online contacts offline, by contrast, has increased in Denmark, Italy and Romania; it remained fairly stable in Ireland and Portugal; and it decreased slightly in Belgium and the UK.
Some increase in excessive internet use % Very or fairly often % Not very often % Never Tried unsuccessfully to spend less time on the internet Spent less time than I should with either family, friends or doing schoolwork Caught myself surfing when I am not really interested Felt bothered when I cannot be on the internet Gone without eating or sleeping because of the internet 16 17 16 17 17 5 10 10 21 24 15 22 22 22 22 25 22 26 20 85 75 63 60 62 58 66 53 57 60! Compared to, the percentage of children aged 11-16 years old who experienced different forms of excessive internet use has slightly increased.! More specifically, the proporion of children who spent less Ime with family and friends, or doing schoolwork or who felt bothered when they could not be online has increased.! One in four children also experienced, at least occasionally, going without eaing or sleeping because of the internet.! Country differences are marked, with excessive use lower in Italy and Belgium, and highest in the UK followed by Denmark and Romania. 0 20 40 60 80 100 EU Kids Online - QC144a- e: How olen have these things happened to you? Base: children aged 11-16 who use the internet. NCGM - Q46: In the PAST MONTHS, how olen, have these things happened to you? Base: 11-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Exposure to one or more out of ten risks has increased among girls and 11-14 year olds Boys Girls 9-10 yrs 11- yrs - 14 yrs 15-16 yrs % Have experienced one or more risks % Have experienced one or more risks 30 40 48 48 47 48 48 54 52 57 62 63 Belgium Denmark Ireland 0 20 40 60 80 100 Italy Portugal Romania UK % Have experienced one or more risks % Have experienced one or more risks 34 40 39 38 42 45 45 48 48 51 52 55 56 61 69 79 0 20 40 60 80 100 EU Kids Online and NCGM measures in this graph are explained for each risk separately in the graphs on the preceding slides. The ten risks included here are: online contact with someone not known offline, seen sexual images online, received sexual messages online, seen hate content, seen pro- anorexia content, seen pro- drug content, seen pro- self- harm content, seen pro- suicide content, met online contact offline, been cyberbullied. Base: 11-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.! Around half of all 11-16 year olds has encountered one or more of the 10 risks we asked about in the two surveys (, ) in the year preceding the interview.! Over the past few years, the percentage of children who encountered at least one online risk increased from 48% to 52%.! The increase occurs mainly among girls and the younger children. This suggests future safety resources should be focused on girls and younger children.! The increase in encounters with online risk were also greatest in Denmark, Italy and Romania.! The decrease in Belgium is thought- provoking: are there best safety pracices there to be shared across Europe?
% Experienced one or more risk factor 80 70 60 50 40 30 More opportunities mean more risk, but only in some countries IT IE BE PT RO UK DK IE BE PT UK RO DK 1 2 3 4 5 IT Average number of daily activities! EU Kids Online findings have consistently shown a posiive associaion between online aciviies (or opportuniies) and online risks this holds on an individual and a country level.! Earlier slides showed how many online aciviies children aged 11-16 years old undertake each day, and how many of them encountered at least one risk online in the past year. This scayerplot posiions the seven countries surveyed in and on both measures.! This posiive associaion between opportuniies and risks was found in both and data the more children in a country gain opportuniies online, the more they also encounter risks.! In some countries, the changes from to suggest children are experiencing more of both risks and opportuniies - in Denmark, Italy and Romania (and, less, in Ireland).! But in Belgium, Portugal and the UK, children are now benefiing from more online aciviies without an equivalent increase in risk (if anything, risk in these countries has declined).! It is, it seems, not inevitable that increasing opportuniies means increasing risk. EU Kids Online and NCGM measures in this graph are explained in the graphs on the preceding slides. Base: 11-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Parental mediation
Active mediation of internet safety by parents is unequal across Europe 9-10 yrs 11- yrs - 14 yrs 15-16 yrs % Suggested ways to use the internet safely % Suggested ways to use the internet safely Boys Girls 54 57 62 66 64 65 68 66 66 69 70 70 71 70 0 20 40 60 80 100 Belgium Denmark Ireland Portugal Romania % Suggested ways to use the internet safely % Suggested ways to use the internet safely Italy UK 54 55 57 62 60 61 60 67 65 65 66 72 70 71 82 80 0 20 40 60 80 100 EU Kids Online - QC329: and NCGM - Q54: Has your parent / have either of your parents ever done the following things with you (MulIple responses allowed) Base: 9-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.! Two thirds of parents have suggested ways for their child to use the internet safely, according to children aged 9-16.! The proporion of parents acively mediaing their children s internet safety in this way has remained stable in recent years, with younger children generally receiving more parental mediaion than older children.! Girls now receive a liyle more safety advice, while boys receive a liyle less than in.! Parents in the UK and Ireland engage in acive mediaion of internet safety more than parents in other countries, and more than in.! By contrast, parents in Belgium, Denmark and Italy are less likely to suggest safer uses of the internet than four years ago.
Most forms of parental mediation are stable or even decreasing Not allowed to have your own social networking profile Parental controls or other means of keeping track of the websites you visit Blocking or filtering some types of websites Encourage you to explore and learn things on the internet on your own Suggested ways to use the internet safely Helped you when something is difficult to do or find on the internet Not allowed to give out personal information to others on the internet Talk to you about what you do on the internet 18 16 22 25 24 25 41 46 53 64 65 64 64 65 65 70 0 20 40 60 80 100! Parents prefer far more to talk about internet safety than use parental controls in all countries and for all age groups.! As the graph shows, for 11-16 year olds in Europe, parents use restricive forms of mediaion (banning social networking, using parental controls or filters) less than acive forms of mediaion (encouraging, suggesing, helping, talking to their child about using the internet).! The main excepion is telling their child not to give out personal informaion online, and such instrucions have decreased in recent years (from 65% to 53%).! Other forms of mediaion have also become less common parents are a liyle less likely to encourage their children to explore new things on the internet (from 46% to 41%) or talk to them about what they do online (from 70% to 65%) despite considerable amounts of advice suggesing that parents should talk to their children about the internet.! Parental use of technical tools has liyle changed recently.! Danish parents now mediate a liyle less than before; BriIsh and Irish parents provide a liyle more social support; Belgian parents use more parental controls. EU Kids Online - QC327 (and NCGM Q53): Does your parent / do either of your parents someimes QC328 and QP221: (and NCGM Q55) For each of these things, please tell me if your parents CURRENTLY let you [your child is allowed to] do them whenever you want, or let you do them but only with your parent s permission or supervision, or NEVER let you do them. QC329 and QP222 (NCGM - Q54): Has your parent/ either of your parents [have you] ever done any of these things with you [your child]? QC331: Does your parent / do either of your parents make use of the following? NCGM - Q56: As far as you know, does your parent/do your parents make use of any of the following for the computer that you use the MOST at home? Base: 11-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Do children think their parents know much about what they do on the internet? Boys Girls 9-10 yrs 11- yrs - 14 yrs 15-16 yrs % A lot % A lot 21 24 27 32 30 36 35 36 34 36 40 41 52 51 0 20 40 60 80 100 Belgium Denmark Ireland Italy Portugal Romania UK % A lot % A lot 18 25 26 27 31 33 32 35 36 34 36 41 44 46 45 49 0 20 40 60 80 100! One in three children thinks their parents know a lot about what they do on the internet.! This rises to half of 9-10 year olds and drops to a quarter of 15-16 year olds.! Country differences are sizeable Irish and BriIsh children consider their parents more informed about their internet use than do children in Romania or Italy.! These figures have not changed much in recent years, though a small rise may be discerned among girls.! The increase is disinctly greater for Belgium (up from 31% to 44%) and Italy (up from 25% to 32%), while there is a drop in Denmark (33% to 18%). EU Kids Online - QC325: How much do you think your parent(s) knows about what you do on the internet? NCGM - Q51: How much do you think your parent(s) knows about what you do on the internet? Would you say a lot, quite a bit, just a liyle, or nothing? Base: 9-16 year old children who use the internet in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UK.
Recommendations
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE are encouraged to:! Maximise the benefits that the internet affords through diverse aciviies that expand their digital skills to more paricipaive and creaive uses.! Share responsibility for the online safety and welfare of others, paricularly in contexts of online bullying and harassment where as bystanders or paricipants they can have decisive impact. PARENTS should:! Inform themselves about the benefits and risks that the internet offers, to support children s exploraion of the internet and enhance their opportuniies, coping skills and resilience to potenial harm.! Keep online risks in proporion, treat media coverage concerning online risks criically, and avoid stressing risks so much that children are reluctant to explore online.! Communicate regularly with children about what they do online, encourage them to talk about problems they may find, and be clear about expectaions and rules relaing to online behaviour.! Work with their children to find mediaion strategies that children see as helpful and not intrusive, and help them deal with social pressure or overdependence on devices.! Encourage collecive and collaboraive coping strategies that foster online resilience through a supporive context in which children learn step by step how to manage risks.! Respect age limits for online services and seek advice from parents and teachers about the suitability of services and content they would like to access.! Develop proacive coping strategies such as deleing messages, blocking unwanted contacts and using reporing tools.! Seek help from a parent, trusted adult or friend if they have been bullied or encounter something problemaic online.! Review online privacy se[ngs on a regular basis; share personal informaion only with friends; and never post another s personal informaion, including pictures, without consent.! Take as much responsibility as they can for their safety in their (online) communicaion environment, and share their awareness and coping strategies with their peers.
EDUCATORS should:! Promote posiive, safe, and effecive use of the internet by children in all educaional contexts including homework, using public libraries, computer clubhouses and ICT workshops.! Integrate online safety awareness and digital skills across the curriculum, and work to ensure the benefits of digital technologies reach all children.! Ensure provision of ICT and digital skills development for teachers, supported by awareness raising about risks and safety for young people online.! Develop whole- school policies regarding posiive uses of technology as well as protocols to deal with instances of online bullying and harassment.! Form partnerships with trusted providers and sources of experise in the delivery of internet safety educaion. AWARENESS RAISERS AND MEDIA should:! Increase parental understanding about the risks young people face online without being alarmist or sensaionalist.! Focus first on the many opportuniies and benefits that the internet affords and only second on the risks to be managed and harm to be avoided.! Represent and present young people s perspecives about online experiences in ways that respect their rights and as children get older their expectaion about their privacy. Ensure reporing and awareness raising is based on reliable evidence and robust research.
GOVERNMENTS should:! Coordinate muli- stakeholder efforts to bring about greater levels of internet safety and ensure there is meaningful youth paricipaion in all relevant muli- stakeholder groupings.! ConInue efforts to support digital inclusion of all ciizens while providing support for socially disadvantaged parents and households and finding ways to compensate for the limitaions of commercial broadband and wifi networks.! Promote posiive online content, encouraging broadcasters, content developers and entrepreneurs to develop content tailored to the needs of different age and interest groups, as well as children with special needs.! Review legislaive provision for dealing with online harassment and abuse, and ensure that provision for youth protecion in tradiional media also supports online safety provision.! Support European and naional teachers programmes to include training on the potenial of online, social media and apps that can not only allow students to consult online informaion but also to create online content.! Increase parents awareness of parental controls designed for different devices through public campaigns or accessible informaion materials. INDUSTRY should:! Provide user- friendly, flexible (in terms of se[ngs and funcionaliies) safety tools tailored to families' needs.! Ensure safety by default and enable customisable, easy- to- use safety features, accessible to those with only basic digital literacy.! Promote greater standardisaion in classificaion and advisory labels to guide parents.! Ensure age limits are effecive by developing appropriate methods of age verificaion where possible and accompanying these with sufficient safety informaion.! Implement tools so that under- 18s can remove content that may be damaging to their reputaion and/or personal integrity.! Ensure commercial content is clearly disinguishable, and is age- appropriate, ethical and sensiive to local cultural values, gender and race.! Find ways to empower children by providing safe and private spaces and/or tools for customising apps and plavorms, including tools to help children resist the pressure to be always on.! Ensure that faciliies such as content classificaion, age- appropriate privacy se[ngs, and easy and robust reporing mechanisms on mobile devices and services are widely available.! Support independent evaluaion and tesing of all safety tools and child- friendly features.
The projects! EU Kids Online is a themaic network of 33 countries that aims to enhance knowledge of European children's online opportuniies, risks and safety. From 2009-2011 it conducted a 25- country survey of children and parents across Europe, examining their online aciviies, skills, risks and safety. It has also developed a European Evidence Database of 1500+ studies, a Research Toolkit for researchers, and a body of qualitaive research to inform and interpret the survey findings. Website: www.eukidsonline.net! Net Children Go Mobile is a project across 9 countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain and the UK) that aims to invesigate the changing condiions of internet access and use as smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices become more widespread. It asks how these affect children s online safety, whether negaive and posiively. In 20-14 it conducted a survey and qualitaive research focusing on children s uses of mobile technologies. Website: www.netchildrengomobile.eu/! Both projects are funded by the European Commission s BeYer Internet for Kids Programme.
Methodology EU Kids Online! Sample size: 25,142 children in total, 7091 for the seven countries in NCGM (and in this report).! Sampling method: Random straified survey sample of some 1000 children (9-16 years old) who use the internet per country. For each country, samples were straified by region and level of urbanisaion. Addresses were selected randomly using Random Walk procedures in most countries.! Mode of survey administraion: Paper- based and computer- assisted interviews. The survey was conducted in children s homes, as a face- to- face interview. It included a self- compleion secion for sensiive quesions to avoid being heard by parents, other family members or the interviewer.! Countries included: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UK.! For the technical report on the survey, see hyp://eprints.lse.ac.uk/45270/ Net Children Go Mobile! Sample size: 3,565 children aged 9-16 who use the internet in seven countries.! Sampling method: Random straified survey sampling random walk route based on prior random selecion of sampling points in all countries except Denmark, where households were randomly selected based on naional residents lists.! Mode of survey administraion: paper- based and computer- assisted interviews. The survey was conducted in children s homes, as a face- to- face interview. It included a self- compleion secion for sensiive quesions to avoid being heard by parents, other family members or the interviewer.! Countries included: Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Portugal, United Kingdom.
For more information... EU Kids Online www.eukidsonline.net eukidsonline@lse.ac.uk @EUKIDSONLINE Net Children Go Mobile www.netchildrengomobile.eu info@netchildrengomobile.eu @netchildren Please cite as: Livingstone, S., Mascheroni, G., Ólafsson, K., and Haddon, L., () Children s online risks and opportuni2es: compara2ve findings from EU Kids Online and Net Children Go Mobile. London: London School of Economics and PoliIcal Science. Available at www.eukidsonline.net and hyp://www.netchildrengomobile.eu/